Under the Dome Episode 2.03 Force Majeure

It's a new day in Chester's Mill, and the mysterious girl who recently showed up in town is riffling through Barbie's (Mike Vogel) dresser. She's trying to find a clue to who she is ... but Barbie doesn't buy her innocent "act." In the meantime, Big Jim (Dean Norris) is visiting the town's barber, Lyle (Dwight Yoakam). They evidently go way back, and Lyle admits he's never really gotten over the death of Big Jim's wife Pauline (Sherry Stringfield). The town meets up at the diner; Big Jim wants all citizens to register in an effort to distribute resources more efficiently. Rebecca (Karla Crome) asks Joe (Colin Ford), a reluctant Norrie (Mackenzie Lintz), and the mysterious girl if they'll head to the school and help create a windmill that could generate power for the town. Over at Sam's (Eddie Cahill) cabin, he and Junior (Alexander Koch) discuss Angie's (Britt Robertson) death; could Junior really have killed someone he loves? Junior has no memory of the night she died, which prompts Sam to reveal an interesting tidbit about Pauline -- she had blackouts too, "fugue states," and would often go back to where she had them to uncover what happened. Just then, a storm somehow blows into town. When the townsfolk try to collect the precious rainwater, they realize -- it's red ... and looks just like blood!

At the high school, the teenagers are shocked by the red rain. When the mysterious girl tries to touch it, it burns. Junior shows up, but doesn't tell the kids why he's there. Back at the diner, Lyle confronts Big Jim -- he thinks the rain is another Bible-like test from the dome. But Rebecca isn't so sure; she remembers a red rain phenomenon in India about a decade ago, caused by an environmental algae bloom. She and Big Jim head out into the rain to investigate, but they crash their car trying to avoid a hooded figure standing in the middle of the road. The man throws Big Jim out of the car and zooms away -- with Rebecca! Back at the school, Joe fires up his tablet; shockingly, they have an Internet signal. Norrie wonders who's behind the Twitter handle "houndsofdiana" -- and weirdly, Junior receives an email from the same person ...

Lyle has kidnapped Rebecca. He doesn't want her stopping the acid rain; he believes the dome is their new "God," and is using the rain to wash away "infidels" ... like Big Jim. Meanwhile, Junior opens the link from "houndsofdiana" and sees it's a video message -- from his mother! She tells him that by now, he must realize she's alive, and that she knows she'll see him again. But, interestingly enough, she tells him to go to Lyle -- and only Lyle -- for answers. Suddenly, the Internet signal goes away. Junior heads out into the rain to find Lyle, and discovers Barbie and Julia (Rachelle Lefevre) on the same mission. They use a picture from 1988 of Sam, Pauline, and then-boyfriend Lyle (yup, they dated) to find Lyle's location. With guns blazing, they manage to stop Lyle from killing Rebecca -- but only after Rebecca burns his face with a basin full of the acid rain!

Thankfully, Rebecca whips up a chemical mixture that neutralizes and stops the rain. But it's all made the situation in Chester's Mill much worse; she believes they've got to create a contingency plan that might even involve "thinning the herd." Is that why Big Jim made all the townsfolk "register"? Julia is shocked, and storms out of the diner after realizing Barbie agrees with Rebecca and Big Jim ...

Lyle is tucked away in a jail cell ... but Sam appears and challenges him: Why didn't he just "lay low" after the Dome appeared, like Sam asked him to? Lyle figures the dome is a sort of "force majeure" -- a contract clause freeing both parties from obligation when extraordinary circumstances come into play. Later, Junior finally confronts Lyle. He'll help him all right, like Pauline asked, but only if he's released. The teenagers investigate the source of the Internet signal, and it takes them right to the locker where Angie died. The mysterious girl somehow knows the locker's combination. Joe looks up who has used that particular locker over the years, and after combing through a yearbook comes to realize -- the mysterious girl's name is Melanie Cross. And she looks exactly like she does in her yearbook photo ... from 1988!